BCS Students Excel in Mandarin

Two Bullis Charter School students recently garnered top prizes at the 36th Annual Chinese Language Teachers Association of California Mandarin Speech Contest.

The competition drew more than 650 students from 28 California schools to San Francisco to compete against grade-level peers in Mandarin public speaking. The charter school integrates the language into the curriculum beginning in kindergarten to prepare its students to be well versed in international culture and competitive in the expanding global economy.

Fourth-graders Karina Halevy and Jacqueline Hillman received the top prize in their divisions by delivering the best oral presentations of original Mandarin speeches. This is the second time in the past few months that Karina has been recognized for her Mandarin comprehension. She recently took first place in the Chinese Essay-Writing Competition in a local competition organized by the Confucius Institute at San Francisco State University.

Karina and Jacqueline participate in the Mandarin classes as part of the school’s Foreign Language Program, which will include all classes as the current fourth-graders, the class that started the language in kindergarten, move into fifth grade. It is already an integral part of the new middle-school program.